Captain Falcon
__TOC__ General Captain Falcon (Japanese: キャプテン・ファルコン Kyaputen Farukon, full name Douglas Jay Falcon) is the main playable racer from the F-Zero series of futuristic Nintendo racing games, and is the iconic "mascot" of the franchise. He was featured as a playable character in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His voice actor in all three games is Ryo Horikawa (who is well-known for providing the original voice of Vegeta in all Dragon Ball media). Changes from Brawl to Crusade Captain Falcon has received nerfs,' '''and buffs from Brawl to Crusade. His bounce effect on Raptor Boost from Brawl is gone, making it almost as risky as Melee apart from the fact that it can ledge-sweetspot. C. Falcon has received a significant buff to his air-to-ground game thanks to increased shield stun and shorter landing lag. He has an easier time killing and comboing his opponents than in Brawl, due to the more hitstun. His D-throw now plants foes directly on the ground, similarly to Mr. Game & Watch's Melee Down Throw. Cosmetic-wise, Captain Falcon is alot brighter, being now based on his F-Zero GX design. Attributes In version 0.6, Captain Falcon was ranked D Tier (18th) in the official tier list, and he is currently ranked S Tier (5th/6th) in the current Tier List. This is due to the fact that his high speed neutralizes most disadvantages he has in attacking range and allows him to deal with many types of opponents, including ones who rely on projectile zoning. However, his slow overall attacking speed and easily interrupted recovery limit C. Falcon's defensive ability, allowing characters with swift attacks to overcome him. C. Falcon hits with a lot of power, but he is also easily punishable when his attacks miss, making him a high-risk, high-reward fighter. Captain Falcon is known for his speed and kill power. Captain Falcon is a heavy character with great vertical endurance due his very quick fast falling speed. He has strong attacks, and has the second fastest running speed, second to Sonic. However, though his speed is useful, his dash has low traction due to Crusade's physics. His attacks mostly consist of kicks and punches, including the famed Falcon Punch, which is one of the most powerful moves knockback wise in the game. However, it is a very situational move because it has a very slow start-up and high amount of ending lag. He has one of the fastest falling speeds in the game, but his air speed is one of the best in the game. Many of his moves have high knockback and damage, lending him considerable power, but they also have considerable start-up time and small sweetspots. His standard special, the Falcon Punch, deals high damage, can KO at early percentages, and can be reversed in direction after start-up, but its extremely slow start-up makes it extremely situational in actual play. Raptor Boost makes him rush forward, then do a quick fiery uppercut that pops opponents in the air, but the abysmal shieldstun and slow start-up makes it very easy to block or shield and if he misses it he falls with considerable ending lag. When used in the air, he will instead swing downward, Meteor Smashing targets. This makes it useful when recovering, since it can meteor smash edge-guarders and even edgehoggers but the attack is slow, predictable, and it leaves Captain Falcon more vulnerable than the Falcon Dive. Raptor Boost also has the ability to cut through most projectiles, but Captain Falcon lacks a projectile himself. Falcon Kick sends him rocketing forward when used on the ground, and downward and slightly forward when used in midown aerial. It deals decent damage and knockback, but it has below-average start-up and the hitbox is rather small, making it only good at surprise attacks, quick downward movement, or punishment for laggy moves. Contrary to the name, Falcon Dive sends him upwards with a little horizontal movement, which gives him a great horizontal recovery when combining it with great air speed. If the Falcon Dive connects, it will deal damage to an opponent and Captain Falcon will jump off from them (sometimes stage spiking when used against edge-guarders, although it can be teched to prevent that) and he will be able to use Falcon Dive again. Falcon Dive can also grab edgehoggers if they are within its grab range. In terms of recovery, though, Falcon Dive is a slow move, can't auto-sweetspot ledges if he is using it in the opposite direction of the edge and it is easy to edgeguard because it has no grab box directly above him and although Captain Falcon has a very big ledge sweetspot range, Falcon Dive is easily edge hogged, and if he still manages to get to the stage, his recovery leaves him in a fairly high landing lag, high enough to often allow the edge-hogger to get up in time to punish it. Many of his moves make powerful finishers. His forward aerial (informally known by many different names, of which "Knee of Justice" is probably the most popular) is known for having extreme knockback, but it is hard to sweetspot and has fairly slow start-up (the first frames of it are not avoidable on reaction but are still predictable). His back aerial has good start-up and knockback, his down aerial is a powerful meteor smash, and his forward smash deals high damage with very high knockback scaling. Even though most of his attacks have good power and damage output, they have considerable start-up lag, sometimes unfavorable hitboxes (which can make it difficult to land his attacks against foes with better disjoints), and his little amount of disjoints can become a major trouble against characters with disjoints that outranges him, especially the faster ones. His throws chain well, but Captain Falcon himself is an easy target for chain grabbing and comboing due to his heavy weight, large size, and fast falling speed. Falcon's lack of a reliable approach is a weakness, but it is not detrimental to his game. His poor, small hitboxes in his aerials and fast falling speed only add to his approach problems, and also make it difficult for him to hit grounded characters from the air. His below average attack speed, unfavorable hitboxes, and only decent range makes approaching with Captain Falcon difficult, meaning he is easily camped. Though, his high mobility does help immensely during approaches. His short-hopped aerials are among the best in the game due to the angles at which Falcon can use them. His high air speed and running speed make his short hops very fast, near-horizontal moves, making his short-hopped Nairs, Fairs, and Uairs effective pressure tools from unusually far away for a short hop. In the end, Captain Falcon relies on his weight, survivability, power, decent range, and mobility to make up for his abysmal approaches, poor amount of disjointed hitboxes and his often sluggish attacks. He can KO and rack up damage quite easily when the opportunity presents itself through precisely executed combos and carefully set-up kill moves, such as the Knee of Justice. Captain Falcon's Normal Moves '''Combo' *Captain Falcon punches twice then knees the opponent, which is followed by a series of punches. The first two punches and the kick do 3% and 5% respectively, and the punches at the end do 1% each. A good jab-canceling move, the first hits can lead into a grab. Extremely fast, this is Captain Falcon's fastest attack at 3 frames of start-up. Dash Attack *Captain Falcon rams a shoulder into the opponent. Quick (hits on frame 7-16), but few reliable follow-ups, extreme unsafety on shields due lack of shieldstun and high ending lag means it's still an unsafe approach move. When the hit is successfully landed, it can lead into his neutral aerial, running up smash, or some other aerial combo. Does 9-12% damage. The attack, though short in duration, is at its strongest when it first comes out. Can be follwed up with a knee. Forward Tilt *Captain Falcon performs a roundhouse kick. Above-average range. At higher damage percentages, this makes a good spacing move due to its knockback. Best used as a quick punisher. Can KO at very high damage percentages, though overwise fairly weak. Does 10% damage. Up Tilt *Captain Falcon performs an axe kick with good horizontal knockback. This move's hitbox stretches from above Falcon, giving it some anti-air properties, to dropping in front of him. Above average KO power with good range, with a disjoint slightly extending the range, though somewhat slow. It also moves Falcon forward a little. Inflicts 10-13% damage. Down Tilt *Captain Falcon does a sweep kick with vertical knockback. This move has lost the combo ability it had in Melee, the only real combo being at moderate-high damages, where it can lead into his Knee, Uair, or Nair. The starting lag is predictable, but ending lag is short enough to allow a quick follow up, usually giving the foe enough time to escape at lower damages. It has decent horizontal reach. Does 9%. Side Smash *Captain Falcon rears back and jabs an elbow forward, making a fire effect in contact. Great knockback scaling but its low base knockback makes its killing power only slightly above average among forward smashes (though the high knockback scaling makes momentum canceling not very effective on it). It also has fairly good reach, but slow (although is still his fastest smash) and has abysmal shieldstun. Even so, it's considerably more effective than in Brawl. Does 19-26% damage. Up Smash *Captain Falcon kicks into the air twice. Good knockback for a up smash, especially for a multi-hit up smash. This is one of Falcon's best moves due to the good vertical range, power, damage output, its usefulness as a running up smash (due to Captain Falcon's very fast dash speed), and juggling ability. It has very poor horizontal reach, which can make it difficult to land on grounded opponents, but the horizontal disjoint makes the range better than it looks and using it during a dash can help with this problem. First kick does 8-12%, second hit does 11-15%. Total, 19-27% damage. This move can be followed by Falcon Diveor simply up aerial. Down Smash *Captain Falcon does a kick forward, then backward. Very high horizontal knockback with great reach and little vertical knockback as well, though rather easy to DI at mid to high damage percentages. Unlike most of his moves, it's safe on shields and has a quick charge release, making it one of his better moves. However, it is one of the slower down smashes in the game. Does 18% behind, 17% in front uncharged. 24% behind, 23% in front fully charged. This is Captain Falcon's most reliable smash attack due to its range and relative safety. Neutral Aerial *Captain Falcon kicks horizontally twice, first hit does 4%, then 6% damage, for 10% total damage if they both connect. The first hit has very low set knockback which is intended to lead directly into the second hit. Has almost no landing lag. It's purpose from Melee has been reduced dramatically due to the lower hitstun, making both kicks connect much harder, and it's duration is risky to use airborne. If the first kick is autocancelled, it can lead to a grab or jab. Forward Aerial *Captain Falcon performs the Knee Smash where he jabs a knee forward. If sourspotted, it deals 3% with extremely low knockback, but if sweetspotted, it deals 19% with extremely high knockback, making it an excellent horizontal finisher, although it is tricky to land due to start-up, sweetspot lasting only 1 frame and the back counts as a semi-sourspot (very weak but still stronger than hitting in later frames, though it is much less useful than hitting later). When sweetspotted, an electric effect can be seen. Also, the sour-spotted knee can trip opponents if they are not airborne, which has combo starting potential, goes well into a grab/smash. And against characters with poor recoveries, the sourspotted knee can edge guard them, or follow-up the Knee into his Up Aerial. Has high landing lag, but it can be completed in the air during a short hop before Captain Falcon lands. Back Aerial *Captain Falcon performs a quick backhand. Has high knockback when sweetspotted, although significantly less than his forward aerial. It has somewhat low reach but the sweetspot has a very short duration. Has some landing lag, though it is less than his forward and down aerials. Deals up to 13%. Up Aerial *Captain Falcon kick flips with fast start-up and good all around range (though not directly below him). The attack does more horizontal knockback if hit at the tip but more vertical knockback if his body connects. Has almost no landing lag at all. One of his best moves and is easily his most versatile attack, it easily juggles or follows into another aerial, with good KO potential at high damage percentages. It can also edgeguard quite well and more reliably than his forward, down and back aerials. Does 12% damage when sweetspotted. Down Aerial *Captain Falcon stomps downward. This is a meteor smash with above average power when his boots hit the target. When it connects on his body, it deals horizontal knockback, which means that the nipple spike has been removed. Even so, the knockback is surprisingly high for a non sweetspot and it can earn Captain Falcon many surprise KOs, especially since foes may DI the wrong way, thinking they are going down instead of horizontal. It has a fairly small hitbox, making it hard to land. Forward Throw *Captain Falcon punches the enemy and sends them forward. Can be followed by a dashing up smash for a KO, and the throw itself has some KO power when the opponent's damage percentage is high. Can also be followed with his dash attack, or even a Falcon Kick at medium damage percentages. Can be used to pseudo-chain throw the opponent at very low damage due to Captain Falcon's dashing speed. Leads into aerial follow ups near the ledge. Does 4% then 5% damage. Back Throw *Captain Falcon puts the enemy behind him and kicks. First 4% then 5%. Looks identical to his back throw from the original SSB, though with much less KO potential. Usually only used to get the opponent offstage for a up aerial setup, but can lead into a backwards-running up smash. Up Throw *Captain Captain holds the enemy up and knee's them upward. Can combine with other attacks well, such as his up special, Knee and up aerial. Does 10%. This is one of Falcon's more powerful throws in terms of knockback. Down Throw *Captain Falcon kicks the opponent repeatedly downward. Can be used as a chain grab. 10% damage. Ledge Attack *Captain Falcon gets up from the ledge and does a quick punch. Captain Falcon's Special Moves Trivia *Falcon's voice actor being the voice for Vegeta is especially ironic here as Goku himself is playable. Notable Appearances *F-Zero (1991) *F-Zero X (1998) *F-Zero GX (2003) Gallery Category:Characters Category:Rushdown Characters Category:Almost Completed